Anew
by SilverCascade
Summary: For once, Jo longs for something that will stay with her. She just might find what she seeks. Anna/Jo, set between Season 4 and 5. One-shot.


**For last year's words belong to last year's language  
And next year's words await another voice  
And to make an end is to make a beginning  
~T.S. Eliot, "Little Gidding"**

* * *

Anna knew she shouldn't be here - not like this, not hiding. It was too cold, for a start, and though she didn't feel it, her vessel's arms prickled with gooseflesh. Her body could feel the cold, and she wondered why the girl sitting on the bed did not shiver.

Clothed in a black tank top and hair rolled into a loose bun, Jo picked up a greasy rag and began to polish the gun. A hefty rifle, it still belonged more to the old Roadhouse than to her, but she could at least pretend. Her lean fingers worked the barrel, cleaning off the dry blood from the last kill. The girl and her mother had been on the road for a while now, taking on each case that strayed into their path and killing every damn thing they could. Holing up in motels was the most difficult part; Jo and Ellen were used to their home, and though their travels were necessary now they had no place to go, they both missed a steady roof over their heads. She sighed at the thought of her old home, a light breath skimming over her lips.

The angel's attention was fixated too, and she couldn't help but stare; the girl before her was something else. Not particularly gorgeous or beautiful, but she was so..._ different_. Her natural hair, dark blonde and curling, shone in the glow, and her eyes of smooth chocolate, were focused on the task, hands working feverishly as Anna stared. Jo was unaware of her presence. Or so it seemed, but the hunter's stomach flipped; she glanced up, watchful gaze hitting the spot where the being stood. Nothing.

She was alone, of course, and the windows were salted. Yet she couldn't shake off the unsettling feeling of being watched.

But the girl needn't have worried; Anna was a benevolent creature, nothing like the ghosts and ghouls she feared. The angel's presence was definitely there, and in fact, it kept all of the monsters away. Like a bug with a brightly colored back, the fantastic prints a warning, her grace glowed; she dared anything dark to take its chances and step into the building. They stayed back, of course; no monster was foolish enough to challenge the celestial.

Jo's dark eyes drifted to the pages of the shining magazine before her, and Anna's gaze re-settled on the beautiful girl. Her heart raced. The blonde girl's fingers, long and lean, flicked over the page, and she wondered which of the glorious guns she should ask for when her birthday came. The likelihood of her mother getting her one of her own had started out low, but had increased as they hunted; Ellen had realized the necessity and had picked up some cheap, second-hand gun, promising her a new one for her birthday.

She thought to the New Year looming, and to all of the things it would bring. The air would be the same around any place they stayed: cold and ashy and unfamiliar. Sighing, she wished for something new, something _different_, to stray into her path. Something to stay.

Missing it all, she still felt heavy when she thought of the Roadhouse and Ash. It might have been a few years ago, but he had meant a lot to her. Losing a person was one thing, but losing a person _and_ a place you call home... that was something else altogether. Jo's chest tightened, and her mouth dried. She swallowed, closing her eyes and shakily breathing out; she tried to convince herself she was the pillar of strength she always made out to be.

Vulnerability incited an irrepressible urge to help in the angel's heart; she pressed her lips together, wishing she could reach out and touch the girl's soul to make her feel better. She wanted to hold her, stroke her glowing hair and gleaming skin and whisper that everything would be all right. Joanna Beth Harvelle, unknown to her, had been the angel's new assignment. Breaking free from Heaven under a temporary binding clause, the fiery-haired warrior had to succumb to the task of an angel and _protect_. But she was allowed a choice, and her mind drifted to the Winchesters. She followed them for a while, and Dean talked of a woman so brave and fierce that she simply had to see what the fuss was about. Fueled slightly by jealousy and mostly by curiosity, she had tailed Ellen and her daughter for a short while, watching them hunt and argue and chat and live.

She acted as if she were only observing, assessing the girl like she was meat at a market stall, but in her heart she knew; from the moment her wide hazel eyes fell on the golden-haired warrior, Anna felt it was her place. She wanted this. She wanted to save Jo.

As she watched Jo chew on her lip, uncertain as to why the feeling of being watched still lingered, the thoughts fluttered in the angel's mind, as delicate as wafer-thin papers cascading to the floor. The balloon of emotion in her chest swelled and swelled until it popped; a loud bang audible only to her rang, and she shook. As the clock ticked on and on, she felt her body gain weight as she materialized.

Jo's jaw dropped, and she leaped backwards as a flame-headed woman fell onto her bed. She did not say anything, only watched with huge brown eyes as Anna heaved herself up, hair a disheveled mess. Smiling, the mysterious arrival cupped Jo's chin in her smooth hand, her thumb reaching over stroking the cheekbone.

Enthralled, Jo stared, her mouth parting; she leaned towards this presence glowing with life. She did not know whom this beautiful woman was or how she had gotten in, and though every instinct screamed at her to back away from the potential monster, she stayed put, breathing slowly. The angel leaned forward and Jo leaned up; their lips met. Soft, sweet, and gentle, until Anna pulled back just a little. Gazing into Jo's wide eyes, she lifted the girl's chin and smiled.

She slipped an arm around the startled hunter's waist, pulling her close. Now only wanting to look, she stared, eyes wide and the muddy hazel color of tree-bark. She took in every little blemish and bump on the other woman's face, and as her gaze drifted past the glistening brown eyes, and to the lips, Anna dragged her teeth across her own.

Jo's lips were plump, a flushed pink matching her hot cheeks. They shone with natural moisture and Anna couldn't tear her gaze away. It was Jo who broke the spell, and it was Jo who gave the angel what she wanted.

The clock struck midnight.

Holding Anna's face in her calloused palm, she pulled her closer still, pressing their lips together again. She closed her eyes, relishing the feel of the mystery woman's dry lips against the own moist ones, and it was then the angel let her self-control slip through her mind and into the darkness. Skinny fingers tangled in Jo's hair as the girl's hands felt their way around her body, smoothing and pawing and feeling her hair, chest, hips and everything in between. Her tongue was on fire; the redhead tasted like strong gum, her kiss a spearmint swing to the jaw. Jo ran her tongue along the seam of the woman's lips and Anna gave her way; Jo tasted like a shot of whiskey, and she kissed harder than the angel was expecting. Dean's gentle loving had nothing on the force Jo held, and Anna was surprised to learn that she liked it. Her hands tugged the blonde close, still yanking her by the hair, and unknowing to the hunter, she smiled.

Jo was also the one to break away for air. Anna sighed as they parted, the blonde girl flushed and gasping. The angel did not need to breathe, and had momentarily forgotten about the human's reliance on oxygen. She watched as Jo inhaled deeply, never taking her gaze off the stranger. Finally, she spoke.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Anna." The angel attempted a smile.

"No, what are you? Humans don't just appear from thin air and-"

Anna's smile dropped an inch, and she shook her head. "You'll find out soon enough. I'll be back." Jo opened her mouth to ask again, and the angel placed a finger on her lips. "Happy New Year, Jo."

As the human blinked, she felt a cool rush of air and of fingers leaving skin. A flutter of what sounded like _feathers_, and then nothing. Jo's eyes shot open; her head turned, blonde waves rippling around her shoulders as she searched for the presence, for the girl, whom had been there mere moments ago. Blinking, she knew she would have deemed it her imagination if not for the cold, mint-like tingle on her lips. Her fingers stroked the skin where the mysterious woman had touched her, and coldness had seeped there too. It was a pleasant cool, a fading feeling she would miss. Her lips still quivered when her fingertips brushed them, and the sharp taste was one she would not forget soon.

The reflective silence broke when hardened knuckles rapped upon the door.

"Jo, you okay?" It was the concerned voice of Ellen. "You've been real quiet in there."

She paused a moment and could almost hear her mother's hand clasp the doorknob; it turned and paused, and she swallowed the lump in her throat before speaking.

"I'm fine, momma," Jo called back. The doorknob returned to its original place. "I'll be out in five minutes. Just tidying."

"Alright, baby. Oh, and Happy New Year. Let's make this a good one, huh?"

Despite herself, Jo smiled at her mother's optimism as the familiar clop of her shoes faded. Ellen had said the phrase every year since Bill passed, and after Ash followed suit, that line would still be delivered each year, followed by the two sitting together and sharing drinks. Thinking of the awaiting beer for a moment, she sighed, and stood, stretching her bones with a click. The girl turned, casting a slow gaze over her poky room. Everything was as it had been. Everything was as it _should_ be.

Yet she could still taste spearmint in her mouth.

As she left her room to join her remaining family, pulling a string to turn off the light, she wondered if she would ever see the beautiful, unearthly woman again.

_Anna, you'd better stick to your word. You'd better come back._

The door swung shut behind her.


End file.
